Emotions Rule Political Responses to Shooting

Did you know that the young man, the shooter in Connecticut, was a vegan? Did you know that he was a vegetarian, essentially? Did you know that?

Ron Fournier used to be a reporter for the Associated Press. Now he’s moved over to the National Journal. It’s an Inside the Beltway bunch. They publish a lot of things, among them, the Hotline and other things. It’s where F. Chuck Todd worked before he went to NBC. He is an acknowledged, committed left-wing Democrat and also a member of the media, which is same thing. He’s got a piece. It was posted, I guess, late yesterday.

“What if there is nobody or nothing to blame for Adam Lanza’s heinous acts? Other than Lanza, of course. What if school security and the school psychiatrist kept an eye on Lanza since his freshman year? The Wall Street Journal has a compelling narrative about the red flags addressed. What if he had a form of autism that has little or no link to violent behavior? Lanza may have had Asperger’s syndrome but, even so, that is not a cause. What if it’s too simple to lay the massacre at the feet of the gun lobby?”

What if the NRA had nothing to do with this?

“What if Lanza wasn’t provoked by video games? David Axelrod, a close friend and adviser of President Obama, tweeted last night: ‘In NFL post-game: an ad for shoot ’em up video game. All for curbing weapons of war. But shouldn’t we also quit marketing murder as a game.’ When I asked whether he was laying groundwork for a White House initiative, Axelrod said no: ‘Just one man’s observation.'”

Quentin Tarantino’s got this movie with Jamie Foxx about slavery, Django. He uses the N-word in it like a hundred thousand times, shoot ’em up, canceled the premiere. Tom Cruise movie with Jack Reacher, shoot ’em up movie, canceled the premiere. These Hollywood people are essentially taking on responsibility. Well, they are. They’re canceling their premieres. They’re delaying releases. What are they saying when they’re doing this? I’m not really sure. But it sounds to me like they think they might have some culpability, or they don’t want to be accused of having any so they’re delaying the release and their celebratory premiere parties.